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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

An online course on how to act rink-side will be mandatory for all parents in the province registering a hockey player aged four to eight years old.

Brian Whitehead, the general manager of Hockey New Brunswick says they'll be introducing the course in September, with no charge to parents. Hockey New Brunswick on the other hand, will pay about $30,000 a year. Whitehead says he'll likely give parents a deadline of mid-December to complete the course.

With the prices of pack of smokes skyrocketing to about 10 bucks in recent years, many smokers are turning to contraband cigarettes.

The rationale for many the government is simply lining their pockets at the taxpayers expense anyway. But Carlos Godoi of the Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco tells CHSJ News you should ask yourself whether it's really so victimless---black market smokes actually help gangs finance the illegal drug trade as well as robbing small business owners of badly needed revenue.

Godoi says small business owners take a huge hit when people can buy illegal smokes for $20 as opposed to $80 a carton, and in addition underage kids have easier access to black market tobacco products.

New Brunswick is number one....at least when it comes to seafood. New Brunswick ranked as Canada's largest exporter of seafood for 2012, with exports valued at $967 million. Nova Soctia and BC came in second and third.

In a statement, Premier David Alward acknowledging the importance of the seafood industry in creating new jobs, especially in rural communities. Local producers from Charlotte County to Shediac participated in the Boston International Seafood Show this week, promoting their products to more than 16,000 buyers and sellers from more than 90 countries.

In recent years, the province has turned to Asia and Europe as markets for its seafood.

In order to get a slice of the shipbuilding pie, Keith Ashfield, the minister of fisheries and oceans and minister for the Atlantic gateway, says that forming alliances is critical for small and medium sized enterprises in Saint John.

During the Lockheed Martin Marine and Defense Industry Day held in the city, Ashfield talked to local business owners about positioning their companies to take advantage of the government's $35-billion National Procurement Shipbuilding Strategy.

Former Mayor Ivan Court hopes the Council of Canadians isn't right when it suggests the city is being strongarmed by the federal govoernment to accept a public-private partnership or P-3 model to pay for a water treatment plant on the east side.

Court says that would be morally wrong because when he was Mayor, the city was told funding would still be available if it was determined a project could be done cheaper without a public-private partnership. Court says the police station at Peel Plaza was constructed at half the cost of what it would have been under the P-3 model and the city should talk to officials in Halifax about their experience with a P-3 to build a water treatment plant which he claims turned into a fiasco.

A 48 year old former investment dealer has been sentenced in Moncton to 3 and a half years in prison for defrauding several of her clients.

Catherine Darlene Ford pleaded guilty to six charges. The court was told she illegally withdrew 1.3 million dollars from the accounts of six of her clients, many of whom were elderly. They have since been reimbursed by Scotia McLeod.

Several of her clients had more than 100 thousand dollars taken from their accounts without consent.

With the valley's sky-high deer population, concern is being raised about their tiny, parasitic passengers. Rothesay mayor Bill Bishop tells CHSJ news that the deer committee may issue a survey to individuals in the KV in the future to get their opinions on the issue.

He says that the bugs can cause harm to humans and other animals. Rothesay was copied on a letter sent by Quispamsis to the minister of health for a tick drag in the valley, to find out if there are any in the area. At 8 o'clock Wednesday morning Bishop will be at Quispamsis town hall for a discussion on the deer situation.

The city and the town of Rothesay will not be going to court over water.

The two sides have reached an agreement to end their dispute over a 1996 agreement under which the city provided water to Kennebecasis Park and Hastings Cove but there were complaints from the people who live there about the water quality and boil water orders.

In February of 2011, Rothesay disconnected from the city's water system and began supplying water from its own system which had been extended.

Under this agreement to avert a lawsuit, Rothesay will make a one time payment to the city of 200 thousand dollars and accepts full responsibility for any environmental damage caused by the discharge of city water as long as that's done properly.

A social justice group is continuing to express concerns about a public private partnerships, or P3 for the city's water utility.

The Council of Canadians calls such a plan expensive, wasteful and misguided. Spokesman Wayne Dryer presented to common council a litany of failed P3s from Kamloops to Montreal, urging common council to be cautious when it comes to the funding model.

Spokesman Joel Butler tells CHSJ News while the group agrees it's necessary for the water quality to improve, it's wrong for private corporations to profit from our water when the onus should actually be on the federal government to step up with the money.

Council assured the public and about 50 spectators it's simply looking into the feasibility of a P3 and nothing is decided yet; the Council of Canadians expresses concerns council will merely take the path of least resistance and bow to pressure from the feds.

Another dissatisfied Liberal is leaving the party. Leroy Amstrong of Kings East was a Liberal M-L-A when Frank McKenna was Premier. Armstrong has joined the Peoples Alliance Party and not ruled out the possibility of running for them in the next provincial election.

Armstrong says he hasn't seen any change in the way the Liberals operate
in spite of all the talk of renewal that took place before choosing new
leader Brian Gallant. Armstrong tells CHSJ News his values are now more in line with the People's Alliance Party.

Armstrong adds he's not comfortable with assurances from the Alward Government that drinking water won't be contaminated from shale gas fracking and maintains language duality is dividing the province. He also says the political culture in the province must change from spend, spend, spend!